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Pew study: Mexican immigration to U.S. down sharply since 2005

Mexican immigration to the U.S. has slowed since 2005 and the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico living in the country has dropped significantly after more than four decades of growth, a study released Monday by the Pew Research Center shows.

Roughly 6.1 million unauthorized Mexican immigrants were living in the U.S. last year, down from a peak of nearly 7 million in 2007, the Pew study found. The report also says about 1.4 million Mexicans moved from the United States to Mexico between 2005 and 2010.

Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew who co-wrote the analysis, said government data now show a clear shift among Mexican workers already in the U.S. who are returning home. He told the Associated Press that data is a sign that many immigrants are giving up on life in the U.S., feeling squeezed by increasing enforcement and limited economic opportunities that they don't see improving anytime soon.

It's not just that there are fewer jobs, more crackdowns on illegal immigrants, more deportations and more bureaucratic hassles with work visas. The Pew study also points to the weak U.S. economy, violence along the Mexican border and a long-term decline in the birth rate in Mexico.

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"More and more immigrants have fewer and fewer opportunities to legally come to this country," said Claudia McClintock, executive director of Child & Migrant Services in Palisade. "I am hearing anecdotally that more workers will not be returning this year.

Jennifer Lee, an attorney with Colorado Legal Services said she sees the general economic slump slowing immigration.

"And it's only my own speculation, but I wonder if the anti-immigrant climate is accounting for some of this," Lee said.

The Pew report called the slump in Mexican immigration a "notable reversal of historic pattern." Migration from Mexico that began after 1970 brought the largest number of immigrants from a single country to the United States in American history. During that period, about a third of all immigrants were born in Mexico.

The 12 million Mexican-born people who now live in the United States - about one in 10 of all Mexicans in the world - comprise more than all the immigrants in any other country, the Pew report said. The report also pointed out that about 58 percent of an estimated 11.2 million illegal immigrants in the United States are from Mexico.

Many of the immigrants who are returning to Mexico have left on their own, but the report showed there was also a significant increase in the number of Mexicans deported by immigration authorities in the United States. Mexican census data cited in the report showed that going hand-in-hand with that, there has been a large increase in the number of U.S.-citizen children now living in Mexico - the likely result of deportations of their parents.

In 2000, there were about 240,000 U.S. citizen children living in Mexico. In 2010, that number more than doubled to 500,000.

The Pew study was released amid heightened attention on immigration.

The Hispanic population which now makes up roughly 16 percent of the U.S. population, is expected to play a key role in the upcoming election, particularly in several swing states, including Colorado.

Attention is also focused on a case being heard by the Supreme Court this week. Arizona's tough immigration law is being challenged by the Obama administration. The case focuses on states' rights to expand the authority of state police to ask about the immigration status of anybody they stop on the rationale that federal enforcement has largely failed. Other states are adopting similar laws.

Other figures included in the report show:

— Illegal Mexican immigrants who have stayed in the U.S. for longer periods of time are now more likely to be sent back by authorities than before. About 27 percent of immigrants sent back had resided in the U.S. for a year or more, up from 6 percent in 2005.

— Despite an increase in Border Patrol agents, apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped sharply — from 1 million in 2005 to 286,000 in 2011, a sign that fewer illegal immigrants are trying to enter.

— About 30 percent of all current U.S. immigrants are Mexican born, by far the most from any single country; that's down from its peak of 32 percent in 2004-2009. The next largest share comes from China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), accounting for 5 percent of the nation's 40 million foreign-born residents.

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